The family way

Can you crack an egg with one hand?

You may think it's an unnecessary skill - but if you've got young kids, having that other hand free could be invaluable.

How to master cracking eggs single-handedly is just one of many intriguing snippets of advice included in a book aimed at new mums which - unusually in the modern era of published advice on every aspect of child rearing - is absolutely not a parenting guide.

Instead of guiding, it's packed with titbits of information ranging from advice on subjects as diverse as how to push a buggy in the snow and what books to read at 3am, to an eclectic mix of historical facts about pregnancy and child rearing, writings about babies from the likes of William Blake and Mark Twain, and frivolous suggestions such as what a new mum should wear on the red carpet.

The book, How To Crack An Egg With One Hand: A Pocketbook For The New Mother, is an entertaining mish-mash of not-your-standard parenting information and facts put together by mother-of-two Francesca Beauman.

The historian and author compiled the book according to what she found interesting, so as well as indulging her love of the past, with quotes from historical figures such as John Locke and Elizabeth Gaskell, and a brief history of childbirth, there's also a list of baby animals, and a series of exclamations to shout out during labour to avoid shocking the midwife.

Beauman, who wrote the book after the birth of her second child Jack, who's now one, says: "The intention was to write something that was fun and stimulating, and both high-brow and low-brow.

"It was meant to be very different from the other books out there, which tend to be dogmatic advice.

"I wanted to write a more diverse book that reflected women's experiences as a mother-to-be these days, which is a rather different experience from what it was in previous generations."

The huge changes there have been for mothers are illustrated in many ways in the book, and perhaps none so starkly as the case of poor Eufame Macalyane, who was burned alive in 1591 on the order of James I of Scotland (later James VI of England) for daring to ask for pain relief during the birth of her twin sons.

The request was viewed as heretical because of a passage in the Bible which was interpreted as God intending women to suffer during labour.

Beauman explains: "I'm a historian, and I wanted to research the history of childbirth and childcare advice, because I think putting all this stuff in context really helps alleviate a lot of our anxiety about being a new mum."

On the same topic of pain relief during labour - a vital subject for mothers-to-be - the book also cites the case in 1847 of the first woman to use chloroform during childbirth. She was so delighted with the outcome that she named her baby daughter Anaesthesia.

And, conversely, there's the story of Inez Ramirez Perez, who performed a successful self-administered caesarian in 2000, with her husband out drinking and the nearest clinic 50 miles away from her home in southern Mexico.

On a less painful note, there's the wry Etiquette of the Playgroup, featuring a list of things mums should definitely say, such as: "Were you an elder child - you're such a natural with him/her?", and "Everybody back to mine for lots of cake and gallons of tea".

Beauman admits: "I just chose things that interest me - I've got a one-year-old and a three-year-old, so it was very much stuff that was on my mind.

"Hopefully what interests me will interest other mothers."

She says her children were "the best source of ideas", admitting: "Anything I was thinking about for my kids, like 'I wonder what a baby panda's called?', or that I was talking to them about, all went in there."

She points out that there's also plenty of trivia "to brighten up one's day" - such as the heaviest baby ever born weighing 23lbs, or the most children born to one woman being 69.

"Just because you've got a bun in the oven or a baby doesn't mean you've totally lost all brain power.

"It's to flip through and have a giggle at, and also to make you think and wonder, and remember there is an outside world out there when you're just submerged in bottles and nappies."

:: How To Crack An Egg With One Hand is published by Bloomsbury on March 21, priced £12.99.

Ask the expert Q: "If I breastfeed my baby, will he do better at school?"

A: Dr Maria Iacovou, a social scientist at the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, co-authored a study on the effects of breastfeeding.

She says: "The short answer is most likely, yes.

"We've known for years that breastfed babies do better at school; what we haven't known is whether they do better because they were breastfed, or whether it's simply that mothers who are most likely to breastfeed (older, more educated, better-off) are also more likely to have children who do well at school.

"Several recent research projects have used novel statistical techniques to investigate whether the link is causal. Our study looked at matched pairs of children whose families appear identical, except for whether the child was breastfed.

"Another project considers the role of genetics, others assess the results of interventions to promote breastfeeding. All projects are based on large samples, and the results are pretty consistent: breastfeeding does cause children to do better.

"The effect translates into roughly three to five IQ points, or perhaps two positions in a class of 30 children. So the effect isn't huge - but it's there.

"People sometimes try to poke holes in these findings, typically by referring to a bottle-fed friend or relative with a phenomenally high IQ. But this isn't a valid critique. First, you can't tell how this person would have turned out if they'd been breastfed, and second, we're talking about average effects.

"Some people may lose very little by not being breastfed, others may lose more. But, as you can't tell which group your baby belongs to just by looking at him, your best guess is that the average effect will apply, and that he'll do better if you breastfeed him.

"Finally, I'm sometimes asked what policy-makers should do with these findings. Nobody should use research findings as a stick to beat mothers who can't or don't want to breastfeed. Instead of criticising the choices of mothers who don't breastfeed, the priority should be to improve support services, to make sure that mothers who do want to breastfeed can do it successfully."

Tableware for tots Pop Art Melamine Collection Bowl, £5.50, side plate, £4, dinner plate £8, platter £14.50, available from Ceramica Blue on 020 7727 0288, www.ceramicablue.co.uk.

Vital Baby First Stainless Steel Cutlery Set A small knife, fork and spoon set, with soft finger locators and easy to hold curved handles. Available from www.amazon.co.uk, suitable for babies from around 12 months, £3.99.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Melamine Set Three piece set including a plate, bowl and mug, £11, available from Portmeirion on 01782 743 456, www.portmeirion.co.uk